This report describes the results of a case study and developmental evaluation of Lane Transit District's innovative project to develop an integrated functional assessment for transportation services, referred to here simply as the Transportation Assessment Project (TAP).
The TAP is unique in that it is a collaborative effort between a public transit agency and local human service agencies to blend traditionally separate assessments for eligibility for transportation services. Specifically, in the TAP, Lane Transit District subcontracts with human services agencies to conduct personalized in-home assessments with individuals with special transportation needs and who are requesting paratransit rides. While in the home assessing an individual’s transportation needs and abilities, human service workers act as a gateway to other social services, as well. The goal of the TAP is to provide access to the most appropriate transportation services when and where individuals need them, in the most personalized, streamlined, and cost-effective way.
The TAP has been fully operational for one year following a development and start-up period. There has been considerable interest internally, in the state, and throughout the U.S. in how the project began and how it is working to date. As a result, the project's leaders boldly decided to commission a study. Conducted in the summer of 2011, this case study analysis generated a rich and multi-faceted picture, at one point in time, of this unique, collaborative project for assessing individuals’ transportation needs and capabilities while, at the same time, connecting people to the local human services network.
Due to the early timing of the study (prior to the ability of the program to demonstrate attributable impacts), the study also serves as a process evaluation designed to document how the TAP was ideally supposed to work, how it is actuallyworking, and how it could be improved. In addition to the developmental findings, this report contains a detailed history and description of the TAP, an estimation of how easily the program can be replicated and recommendations for enhancement of this innovative human service-transportation delivery model. Because of the dynamic nature of the project, it is important to note that the findings reported here represent only a slice-in-time view. Already changes have been made in the project since the data were gathered and analyzed.